Bobby Hill, shown here in the 1950s, and Bill Tuman will be grand marshals of Vintage Motorcycle Days West at Sears Point Raceway.

Bobby Hill, shown here in the 1950s, and Bill Tuman will be grand marshals of Vintage Motorcycle Days West at Sears Point Raceway.

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Bobby Hill and Bill Tuman, shown here in the 1950s, will be grand marshals of Vintage Motorcycle Days West at Sears Point Raceway.

Bobby Hill and Bill Tuman, shown here in the 1950s, will be grand marshals of Vintage Motorcycle Days West at Sears Point Raceway.

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Veteran bikers on the road again at Sears Point Raceway

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Back in the 1940s and '50s, they were known as the Indian Wrecking Crew.

There were three of them, and they all rode Indian motorcycles in competition against the mighty Harley-Davidson.

Now only two are left, and they will come out of retirement long enough today to help kick off Sonomafest 2001, a 10-day gathering of new and vintage motorcycles at Sears Point.

The festival, which also will mark the 100th anniversary of the Indian motorcycle, will close May 6 with the American Motorcyclist Association's Superbike Challenge, a road course in which racers will exceed 100 mph.

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Today, the aging champions, Bobby Hill and Bill Tuman, will get their first look at Sears Point Raceway -- they are co-grand marshals of the fifth annual AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days West, which features vintage races, swap meets, seminars and motorcycle-safety schools.

Sears Point, the scene of many championship auto and motorcycle races, was built in 1968, more than a decade after Hill and Tuman quit racing.

They, with Ernie Beckman, were called the Indian Wrecking Crew as they travelled from state to state trouncing the competition, who rode mostly sleek and powerful Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Beckman died last year.

"We had a ball," Tuman, 79, said from his home in Rockford, Ill. Although he hasn't raced for more than 46 years, Tuman still rides his Indian motorcycle.

"My last race was in Reading, Pa., in 1955," the retired sales agent said. "I won it, stepped off my bike and said, 'That's it.' "

Tuman became interested in motorcycles while traveling through San Francisco in 1941.

"I saw a sign in the window of Hap Jones' motorcycle shop that they were looking for a mechanic and went in to apply.

"They asked me where my tools were, and I said that they were being shipped out. To be truthful, I didn't have any tools, but they lent me some of theirs until mine would arrive.

"When I got my first paycheck, I went out and bought some tools and still have some of them," he said, laughing.

He was introduced to motorcycle racing in 1945 when he built a motor for Mario Stillo of San Francisco, who was matched against Sam Marina of San Jose.

Stillo rode an Indian and Marina a Harley, the more popular bike at the time. The race was to be 50 laps on a track in San Rafael.

"It was pretty close," Tuman recalled "and either one could have won it."

Fate and exhaustion prevailed on the 49th lap, and both riders fell off their bikes.

The crowd, predominantly Harley fans, in a frenzy to help Marina get back on his bike to finish the race, inadvertently turned him around and gave him a shove so he was going away from the finish line. Stillo got back on his bike, crossed the finish line and won the race.

Soon Tuman tried his hand at racing. He finished second in his first AMA- sanctioned event in Mendota, Ill.

"I figured if I could do that well, that I was going to stick with it," he said. He won his first race at Springfield, Ill.

During his career, he racked up five AMA national titles and, at one point, won 130 consecutive events. He has been inducted into four motorcycle halls of fame.

To see Tuman and Hill at the racetrack, you'd think they were archenemies. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Traveling the circuit together, they drove on everything from country back roads to dirt tracks to paved milelong race strips.

"He'd win some, and I won some," Tuman said. "It was a great time of my life."

They combined for 17 victories in AMA national events and won the prestigious No. 1 plate three times.

Hill, 78, of Grove City, Ohio, didn't start his career on an Indian, however.

"My brother worked for a Harley dealer and would bring a bike home with him, " he said.

"I started out just straddling it, and then got braver and started the engine while sitting on it. First thing I knew, I was riding it."

Hill won his first seven races as a novice before entering the Marine Corps during World War II.

After his discharge in 1946, he resumed racing, but rode an Indian bike.

The last Indian racing bike was manufactured in 1948. Hill last rode an Indian in 1953. He finished his career in 1959 on a Harley WLD-R.

He won seven AMA national races, won the California Championship at Bay Meadows in 1952 and won the Daytona 200 in 1954. He also earned the No. 1 AMA plate in 1951 and 1952 and, like Tuman, has been inducted into four motorcycle halls of fame.

A retired truck driver for Standard Oil of Ohio, he maintained close friendships with Tuman and Beckman after retiring, even though their relationship on the track had been all business.

"Of course, the idea was to beat the other person, but our main competition was each other," he said.

Hear them roar

Sears Point Raceway is in Sonoma County about halfway between Novato and Vallejo at Highway 37 and Highway 121.

AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days West begins at 7 a.m. today, tomorrow and Sunday. Gates close at 5 p.m. all three days. A three-day ticket costs $25 at the gate; children 12 and under free.

Veteran Indian cyclists Bobby Hill and Bill Tuman will ride a "parade lap" around the course at approximately 3 p.m. tomorrow and Sunday during the Vintage Days West events.

The Superbike Challenge starts at 7 a.m. May 4-6. Gates close at 5:30 p.m. all three days. A three-day ticket in advance costs $30 or $35 at the gate. Children 12 and under get in free.

A combined pass for both weekends will cost $40. There are no single-day passes.